


Fall Leaves

by disheveledangelinatrenchcoat (bigblackhorse4)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Dean and Cas meet when they're little kids, Fluff, Happy Ending, Human Castiel, Kid Fic, Kid!Cas, M/M, kid!Dean, teenage!Cas, teenage!Dean, this is mostly cuteness and fluff, this is not SPN-verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-06
Updated: 2014-09-06
Packaged: 2018-02-16 08:12:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2262306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bigblackhorse4/pseuds/disheveledangelinatrenchcoat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean and Castiel meet as children when they both jump into the same pile of leaves. So commences their friendship and eventual love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fall Leaves

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, the wonderful GreyMichaela gave me a prompt of Cas and Dean meeting because they both jumped into the same pile of leaves. 
> 
> I love comments, feedback, and ways to improve!

            “Aren’t you too old to be playin’ in leaves?”

 

            The taller boy, glasses askew, frowned and shook his dark, messy hair out of his face. “I’m only nine. I’m just tall for my age.”

 

            Freckled little Dean Winchester emerged from the leaf pile he’d nearly _died_ in because some great _oaf_ had jumped on top of him while he was pretending to be a scuba diver discovering a new cave in the ocean. “Nuh- _uh_. No way you’re only two years older than me.”

 

            The older boy shrugged, face downcast. He stared at the laces on his worn gray sneakers and swallowed audibly. Then he turned away from Dean and started walking towards the gate of the park.

 

            Dean didn’t want to make the boy _cry_. He protected other kids from bullies all the time on the playground and here he was, being one. He ran after the boy, calling, “Wait up! What’s your name?”

 

            The boy turned around and sniffled. “Castiel.”

 

            “Cast-eel?” The sounds fumbled around his mouth like when he tried to play football with his dad.

 

            Castiel grimaced and shook his head, sending wayward locks of nearly black hair into his face. “Cas-ti-el.”

 

            “Can I just call you Cas?” Dean asked. Castiel seemed surprised by this but gave a faint smile and nodded.

 

            Dean grinned because he had a new friend who wore cool-looking glasses and had a funny sounding name and was two grades ahead of him and the day was young. “You wanna play in the leafs?” Dean asked, hoping his newfound friend wouldn’t leave yet.

 

            “Sure! I promise not to jump on you this time,” Cas said, his grin lighting up his ever-so-blue eyes until they practically danced of their own accord.

 

            So they spent the rest of the morning playing in the park, always within view of Dean’s mom, who watched as she baked apple pie in her kitchen.

 

            They pretended they were Superman and Batman and jumped off the top of the slide on the playground until Mary Winchester yelled at them to stop before they broke something. They took to building sandcastles then, where Dean’s toy soldiers could march about and fight the evil dragon that preyed on the poor villagers.

 

            But they always ended back up at the pile of leaves. So far they had been astronauts landing on a new planet, scuba divers, and firemen saving a burning building.

 

            When they emerged from the leaf pile for the last time, Cas had leaves stuck up out of his somewhat spiked, mostly disheveled hair. Dean stood on his tiptoes and picked them out with painstaking care—all the while the both of them giggled until they noticed their stomachs growling.

 

            Castiel seemed disheartened at that and shrunk in on himself, but Dean grabbed his new best friend by the hand and dragged him over to the Winchester house. Dean barreled through the door, expertly dodging toddler toys in the entryway and hopping a baby gate—to reach the kitchen where Mary was making sandwiches and watching over Dean’s little brother, Sammy. Castiel followed slowly in Dean’s wake, unsure of himself.

 

            “Cas! Where are you?” Dean yelled, before his mom scolded him for not using his ‘inside’ voice.

 

            “Coming,” Castiel replied as he stepped over the baby gate. He ran smack into Sammy who giggled and handed Cas his stuffed moose toy. Cas glanced down at the dimpled toddler and said, “Thank you.”

 

            Cas didn’t know quite what to do with himself or the stuffed toy that seemed to be a bit damp, but he trekked dutifully over to Dean, who was jumping up and down with excitement at the prospect of eating and introducing his new friend to his mother.

 

            Mary, taking pity on her son’s enthusiasm, asked, “Who’s your friend, Dean?”

 

            “Cas-teel, Cassi-el-”

           

            “Castiel, ma’am,” Cas interjected and reached his hand out to shake.

 

            Mary smiled broadly and leaned down. She shook his hand, but pulled him into a hug and said, “We’re more of a hugging family here, Castiel.”

           

            Dean noted his friend’s stunned expression at the hug and decided that he probably didn’t get a lot of them at home. He’d make sure to hug Cas often then. He turned back to his mother and asked, “Can Cas stay for lunch?”

 

            “Do your parents know where you are, Cas?” Mary called over her shoulder as she flipped an extra grilled cheese sandwich onto the frying pan.

 

            Sammy decided at that time that he wanted his moose toy back and started rapid-fire babbling, reaching up for the toy. Cas handed it back to him, though Dean realized his friend was about to cry again. It couldn’t be about the moose toy…

 

            “Dun have parents. They left.”

 

            Alarm raced onto Mary’s face and she knelt in front of Cas, wrapping the boy in an even tighter hug. Castiel melted into the embrace, dissolving into sobbing tears.

 

            Didn’t have parents? Dean nearly started crying at the thought. He didn’t know what he’d do without his parents: his mom to read him stories and bake pies and his dad to take him fishing and play catch with him. Dean raced over and threw his arms around his mom and Cas.

 

            After soothing both of the boys, Mary managed to ascertain that, indeed, Castiel’s parents had left him—his mother when he was an infant and his father six months ago—but he had two older brothers working long hours to support the remaining family. Gabriel worked all day and went to school several nights a week, while Michael worked two jobs to keep the house they grew up in. They were holding their own, but Cas was left alone a lot.

 

            His mother wasted no time in picking up the phone to call Cas’s oldest brother.

 

            Dean listened to his mother talking to Michael. She explained that he and Cas were getting along great and that she was more than happy to watch and feed them, and that _no_ , it was no bother at all.

 

            Knowing what that meant, Dean grabbed Cas by the hands and, despite his smaller stature, swung him around the kitchen chanting, “You get to stay, you get to stay!”

 

            Cas picked up on his enthusiasm and grinned, lighting up those eyes again. Dean decided that Cas’s eyes should always be that color, and he would make it his duty to make Cas smile. Cas was his best friend, and his best friend should always be happy.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

            “Get a move on, Cas! We have to finish raking the leaves before I can borrow the Impala tonight!”

 

            “ _We_ have to finish raking the leaves?” Castiel shot back at Dean, pausing in his efforts to shot an exasperated look at his best friend. Dean had shot up over the past year; now he stood an inch taller than Castiel and more muscular from working on said Impala and doing handiwork for extra cash. At sixteen, Dean knew more about cars than anyone in their school, and Castiel couldn’t be more proud of him.

 

            Dean rolled his eyes and sighed. “ _Fine_. _I_ have to finish raking leaves, but you are being ever so kind and helping me. Now can you help me a little bit faster?”

 

            Cas was being selfish, of course. Shotgun was his spot and nothing in the world could tear him away from riding in the passenger seat next to Dean.

 

            He was in love with his best friend and nothing made him happier than seeing Dean happy behind the wheel of ‘Baby’. And sometimes, when Dean flashed him one of those carefree smiles, he could convince himself that Dean might love him back.

 

            So they continued raking until they had the grandest of leaf piles. A true monument to their childhood meeting.

 

            And Cas did what any other person would do.

 

            Cas seized the moment and belly-flopped into the pile of leaves, then started rolling about in them. Dean made sounds of protest—no doubt at the mess Castiel was making—but Cas wrapped his legs around Dean’s ankles and pulled him over.

 

            Dean landed right on top of Cas with a heavy, “Ompfh!”

 

            Twining his legs around Dean’s, Cas effectively pinned Dean against him. Dean glared at him in mock rage, but the both of them were laughing when Cas tilted his head and pressed his lips against Dean’s.

 

            Dean froze at first, surprised, but then melted into the kiss. Roaming hands rode under Dean’s shirt, and Dean’s fingers ran through Cas’s tousled hair as their lips and tongues slid together. Eventually Dean broke off the kiss for some air, but he stayed right on top of Castiel, his fingers still tangled in Cas’s hair.

 

            Cas couldn’t believe it: that he’d kissed Dean, that Dean had kissed him back, and that Dean was still laying on top of him without a care in the world, a ridiculously goofy grin on his face. Cas’s mind was whirling at rocket speed and his heart raced; what should he do now?

 

             Mary Winchester decided for them.

 

            “Boys, when you’re done, make sure to bag up the leaves and put them in the garbage cans. Trash pick-up is tomorrow!” she called out the kitchen window, a broad smile gracing her face.

 

             “Better finish up raking, I guess,” Dean said, a blush creeping up his cheeks and making his freckles stand out.

 

             Dean sat up then and helped Cas up, who had leaves stuck in his hair and all over his sweater. Castiel looked down and chuckled at his leaf-ridden appearance. To Cas’s surprise, Dean started picking the leaves out of his hair and off the sweater, all the while grinning from ear to ear.

 

             Castiel crossed his arms and asked, “What’s so funny?”

 

            “You, you great dork.”

 

            “I’m not a dork.”

 

            “You read ancient Greek literature. For _fun_. You’re a dork,” Dean retorted, tickling Cas’s nose with an oak leaf. “ _My_ dork.”

 

            Castiel grinned. Those were the best words he’d ever heard spoken.          

 

            Raking took a lot longer than before. It was kind of hard to rake leaves when you were holding your boyfriend’s hand.


End file.
